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Welcome, fatshionistas! We are a diverse fat-positive, anti-racist, disabled-friendly, trans-inclusive, queer-flavored, non-gender-specific community, open to everyone. Here we will discuss the ins and outs of fat fashions, seriously and stupidly--but above all--standing tall, and with panache. We fatshionistas are self-accepting despite The Man's Saipan-made boot at our chubby, elegant throats. We are silly, and serious, and want shit to fit.

Currently, fatshionista has moderated membership and moderated posting. In order to post, you must first create a LiveJournal account, and then become a member of the community. If you have just recently created a Livejournal account and have no information on your profile, your membership request will be rejected. In this event you can email the mods explaining your interest in the community; please note, you MUST have information in your profile. This is not a negotiable requirement. Unfortunately, this step is necessary in order to prevent trolls and banned members from joining (or re-joining). Once approved, you can submit a post to the moderation queue by clicking here, or by using any of the "post to this community" links at the top of the page.

Posting guidelines and expectations are described in this post. Rejection of your post from the queue is never a personal attack against you; it simply means a mod has determined it was not in keeping with community expectations and standards. Your rejection email sent by the LJ messaging system will always contain a note from a mod explaining why your post was denied, and whether you can choose to edit it and resubmit. If you have questions or feel the decision was unfair, we heartily encourage you to email us to discuss it further.

1. Yes, this is a political community. It has been from the very beginning. fatshionista was founded and is maintained by people with a size-positive activist mindset, and was originally envisioned as a place to discuss the intersections of fat politics and fat fashion. As the community has grown, it's become more of a 50/50 split between politics and more "fluffy", non-political posts. As mods we can set a certain tone, but ultimately it's the membership as an organism that determines the level of political engagement. We have many members who don't give a toss about politics, and we also have many members for whom the politics are the best part of this forum. Be aware of this.

2. fatshionista is meant to be challenging, socially, politically, and intellectually. Difficult, enlightening conversations are encouraged. This is not to say that people new to these kinds of politics are unwelcome - on the contrary, we welcome people all along the self-acceptance process here. People in the earliest stages of self-acceptance and/or political engagement are heartily encouraged to participate alongside those members who are already savvy about these issues. However, this also means you may be called on behavior or language that some members find troubling. Please be kind and patient with one another.

3. If someone asks you to change your language, or states that something you have said was offensive to them, you are free to say "No" or to ignore their suggestions; though we would argue that it is probably in your best interest to educate yourself on why your behavior might be perceived as problematic. This is useful not just for the purposes of this community, but because arming yourself with this knowledge may save you from making a blunder in a real-world situation that you can't easily remedy. There is no crime in simply not knowing something -- the only "crimes" are being maliciously rude or abusive, or neglecting opportunities to educate oneself, or refusing to thoughtfully consider the perspectives and experiences of others (even if, upon reconsideration, you decide you will not change your language/mind after all).

3a. Having said the above, it is also worth nothing that not everyone here is a lady, and thus beginning your post with "hey ladies!" or some variation thereof can make some members feel left out. We're a diverse community and not everyone here -- even the people you personally might identify as a lady -- identifies with that term, and it can therefore be alienating. "Hey y'all!" "Hey fatshionistas!" "Greetings!" and "Hi Everyone" are all great inclusive alternative greetings. A post won't be rejected from the queue for this, but a mod will comment to give a heads up to OPs who use ladycentric language, even when it's an honest oversight.

4. There is no purity test for membership. One does not have to be a certain size (except for OOTD posts, as discussed below) or of a certain political persuasion to post or comment here. Apolitical and nonactivist folks are welcome, so long as they are respectful of and comfortable with the fact that this community places a heavy value on many issues beyond the barest aesethetics of fashion. The aesthetics are important indeed, but they are not always the terminus of our conversations in fatshionista.

5.fatshionista is not a place for the discussion of dieting or weight loss. Under any circumstances. Period. There are many other Livejournal communities where these topics can be freely shared in a supportive environment. This sort of conversation is explicitly contrary to the mandates of this community, the central pillar of which is size acceptance. Therefore, we consider these subjects extremely off-topic and downright counterproductive, even when they appear in an otherwise appropriate post. Value-free mentions of sizing changes are fine (“My favorite jeans don’t fit anymore, I need new ones in an 18, any suggestions?”) whereas self-congratulatory expressions of weight loss are not (“I’ve lost fifty pounds and now I can wear skirts and everyone keeps giving me compliments and it’s awesome!”). This is not because weight loss is inherently bad or wrong but because this kind of talk can be extremely triggering for those with histories of eating disorders and body hatred, and allowing it to continue unchecked would create a less size-positive environment. fatshionista is intended to be a refuge from diet talk; if you need to have these discussions, you are free to do so pretty much anywhere else in the world, but not here.

6.Outfit of the day (OOTD) posts are limited to folks who typically wear a (non-juniors) size 16 and up. This is not a universally hard-and-fast rule, but a loose guideline used by the mods to keep the photo posts in this community on topic, and it is intended to ensure that OOTD posters are people who are solidly plus-sized (i.e., cannot easily shop in straight-size stores) most of the time. We do acknowledge that fat looks very different on different bodies, and that some straight sizes can fit bigger bodies, thus the flexibility of this guideline. We may ask smaller members to identify their sizes in their posts, and exceptions may be made if you identify yourself as a shorter person (5'4 and under) who wears a 12/14 and up. Having said all that, OOTD posts are assessed on a case-by-case basis and you may be asked to provide further size information before your post is approved.

6b. Be aware that when you post pictures on the internet, whether in this particular community or anywhere else, you always run the risk of your image being downloaded or linked to by anyone online. Be smart in choosing what you want to share.

7. The mods are here for you.Email us, if you have problems or questions. We will do our best to help.

This community has ten moderators, all of us at varying levels of activity and participation given the time we have available. Membership requests may take up to a to week or longer be approved since the moderators take the time to review the profile information from everyone who requests membership. If you have just recently created a Livejournal account and/or have no information on your profile, your membership request will be rejected. Please note, again, you MUST have information in your profile. This is not a negotiable requirement.

Posts to the community are approved, ideally, within a 24-hour period, and usually much sooner. If you have a post in the queue that has not been approved for more than a day, odds are the mods are privately discussing some potential issue with it. If your post is rejected, there will be a note in the LJ notification from one of the mods explaining why -- sometimes it's a coding error that requires a simple edit, and sometimes it's a major conflict. You can always email us to ask for an update, but we ask you give us at least a day before doing so, as the mods are all very busy people will full lives and jobs outside of LiveJournal.

Personal information and bios of your community moderators can be read here. The mods can be contacted individually via the LiveJournal messaging system. Also, you can reach all the mods at once by emailing ljmods @ fatshionista . com.

1. Repeatedly post spam entries, community promo posts, or make continual sales posts in violation of the sales-posting rules.

2. Run all productive conversations into the ground with name-calling, or employ other abusive personal attacks. The best examples of this are the classics, such as "Shut the fuck up," "You are an idiot", or racial slurs and hate speech. Demonstrate a consistent failure to disagree like an adult.

3. Make frequent posts and/or comments that are out of line with the size-positive goals of this community (i.e. "HAY GUYS, check out this great new diet I'm on!" "My thighs are gigantic and ugly and disgusting!") or completely off-topic (i.e. "My cat has been throwing up for two days, what do I doooo?" "Let's bake cookies!").

4. The old standbys of trolling, drama-mongering, and/or attention-seeking are good techniques for getting yourself noticed and banned. Specifically, we discourage dragging in drama from personal LJs or other communities in the strongest possible terms. If a member's behavior in a personal LJ or another community is troubling you (for example, if someone is stealing images) then we ask you bring it directly to the mods so we can take appropriate action.

5. Deleting posts and/or other people's comments without first discussing the circumstances with a mod will get you promptly banned. Screen comments if need be; don't delete them. Disabling comments is likewise prohibited.

6. Picture theft for any purpose is a bannable offense.

7. Ignore, defy, or ridicule mod interventions and requests. If you dare the mods to ban you, we're going to oblige.

NOTE: fatshionista sales posts will go on hiatus after May 14, 2010. After that point, all sales posts will be rejected from the queue with a note reminding you of the change in rule. All sales posts will have to go to fatshionxchange after midnight PDT May 14, 2010. For more information please see this post.

Sales Post Formatting Guidelines:1. Sales posts and Wanted/In Search Of posts are only approved on Fridays. Also, posts that are sales-related, such as questions about whether people would be interested in buying a certain type of clothing or which photo hosting is the best, should also be restricted to Fridays.2. Each member is allowed ONE sales post per Friday.3. The ENTIRE sales or promotional post, including all text, must appear behind a single lj-cut. Information about how to create an lj-cut can be found here.4. Clothing for sale should be for items fitting a US women's size L/12 AND UP or a US men's size L/34 AND UP only. Each item of clothing must have a size listed (unless it is an accessory). If there is no a size attached to the garment (i.e. vintage clothing, custom made items) you need to provide the measurements and indicate whether they're total (the chest measurement is 45 inches) or laying flat (the chest measurement is 23 inches laying flat). Also, sales posts should be for wearable items exclusively (i.e., clothing, shoes, and accessories, including jewelry and purses, etc.).5. The titles of sales posts should read as follows: SALES POST: (Description of sales post, with a size range indicated). This will enable people who want to skip sales posts or find them more easily to do so more rapidly.6. It is also encouraged that members mention whether the items are coming from a smoking household, or one with pets, though this is not required. Furthermore, members are asked to not simply repost the same items week after week after week if they fail to sell.

Posts that do not follow the above rules are subject to rejection from the queue. Has your sales post been rejected? Please read this post for more information.

Other Promotional Posts: Posts that exclusively promote fat friendly events, small/indepdendent businesses, blogs, podcasts, or any other fat-positive flotsam are now only approved on Fridays. Corporate promotion/advertising (i.e., from big chains like Torrid or Lane Bryant) is still NEVER allowed. Nor is repeated weekly spamming. We will determine what counts as "spamming" or "corporate" on a case by case basis.

Discounts, store sales, and coupon codes: All codes are contained in one backdated entry. If you are searching for a coupon code or sale info, you can check the most recent comments in this post, or if you have something to share, you must post it in the comments here. For more information, please see this announcement.

LJ Community Promos: No. There are rare exceptions to this, if the community is particularly relevant. But generally, no.